EDMONTON - The cost of the most expensive public art commission in Edmonton’s history: $700,000.

The value of having a work by Alex Janvier as a major public artwork in the city’s downtown: priceless.

The Edmonton Arts Council made an inspired choice when it hand-picked Janvier, 80, to create the massive mosaic for the floor of the new downtown arena’s Winter Garden pedway.

Handing such a commission to Janvier is a self-confident statement that we have our own story and artistic masters worth celebrating. As Janvier himself puts it: “The thing about Alberta is we’re beginning to make decisions on our own, for ourselves, instead of waiting for the East to decide for us.

“This time, the Edmonton people, we’re ready to take on the rest of Canada. We’re winners.”

The new-found self-assurance is a relief to Janvier. All his life there’s been no shortage of outside authorities trying to box him in, limit him, and tell him how to submit.

It started when he was a kid with the Roman Catholic nuns at residential school. Born Feb. 28, 1935, of Dene Suline and Saulteaux descent, Janvier was sent away at age eight from his home in Cold Lake to the residential school in St. Paul, where he first took art classes.

He survived the traumatic residential school experience and went on to train at the Alberta College of Art. In 1973, he formed what came to be known as the Group of Seven native artists, pioneers of indigenous art in North American.

That label, however, became another shackle. Many curators tried to chuck Janvier into the isolated, neglected bin of native art by refusing to treat his work with the same seriousness as they did the latest art trend out of New York or Europe. The limits imposed by the label meant his art was fit for museums of anthropology, not for public art galleries.

“The curators are trained in New York. The curators are just like the missionaries, sent by head office to bring in the stuff from New York,” he says.

Janvier’s response was to spend decades in Cold Lake creating art that is a shout-out to his roots and his struggle, to the beauty and harmony of the natural world, and to the independence of the human spirit. His mosaic for the Winter Garden has all those elements, as well as a nod to what he loves about Edmonton. If you look closely, you’ll see a map of the region, a vision of downtown, the suburbs and satellite communities, the rivers and tributaries, forests and fields, the colourful changes of the four seasons, and the boldness of a booming city. At Monday’s news conference announcing the commission, Janvier was asked what the general public might think about the mosaic.

“I don’t even know how I think,” he replied in his typical self-deprecating manner. “How could I expect to know how white people think?

“I hope they don’t genuflect every time they cross it,” he added with a chuckle.

Finally, he said, “People will take something out of it and please their heart out of it.”

The mosaic is an ode to Alberta. “When I go abroad and when I land back here, I just love this country. I want to get down and kiss the ground sometimes ...”

At age 80, Janvier said he’s still keen to work. “Much more so now. I’m going to do my most famous paintings. This is it. I’ve been practising all these years. Most artists produce their best works when they don’t have to struggle with the technique.

“It’s become like gospel truth for me to be able to work my art, to express myself from deeper inner feelings.”

As for the Winter Garden mosaic, he believes it’s a strong piece. “It’s the best art I can do at that moment. Maybe I could do it better next year or the year after. But at that time, it’s the best I could do.”

It was an honour to be hand-picked by the Edmonton Arts Council, he says. “This is like playing in the Stanley Cup and scoring the winning goal. This is a biggie.”

He was surprised, he says, to be selected without a formal competition. “Then they said how much (it paid), and I just about fell right out of my shoes.”

Yes, $700,000 is indeed a lot of money.

If Janvier creates a piece that will make us fall out of our own shoes for generations to come, it’ll be a bargain.

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